The Simple Compiz Config Settings Manager

In the first Compiz Fusion update since last October, Compiz Fusion 0.7.2 was released this morning and accompanied by an update to Compiz. This Compiz Fusion update was not only the first in five months, but also it was the first in the 0.7 development series leading up to the stable Compiz/Compiz Fusion 0.8 release. Compiz Fusion 0.7.2 has a number of new plug-ins (11 total) and also some changes to the configuration manager. The Compiz Config Settings Manager has some minor updates in different areas, while this release also includes an alternate settings manager. The Simple Compiz Config Settings Manager, or simple-ccsm as it's called, is focused for simplicity and looks dramatically different from the main settings manager. We have screenshots and comments on the simple-ccsm in this article.

If you are looking to just configure some basic desktop effects such as the famed desktop cube or basic "desktop bling" such as window animations, using the Compiz Config Settings Manager (ccsm v0.7.2, pictured above) can be overkill and daunting to use. There are many different plug-ins separated into multiple sections (General, Accessibility, Desktop, Effects, Extra, Image Loading, Utility, Window Management, and Uncategorized) and then the options within each of the plug-ins isn't always the easiest to understand. Fortunately, much of this is cleaned up with the Simple Compiz Config Settings Manager.

The Simple Compiz Config Settings Manager takes up much less screen real estate than ccsm and is made up of five tabs and a single drop down menu. The five tabs are for information, animations, effects, desktop, and accessibility. The drop down menu at the top of simple-ccsm is for changing the profile. The profiles found with Compiz Fusion 0.7.2 include default, low effects, easy to the eyes, medium effects, high effects, and Hollywood got nothing. Each of these profiles have different defaults for what Compiz Fusion plug-ins are enabled and their options.